Notable Neighbor – John M. Hengy
John M. Hengy, (1900-1997) lived at 8115 (original address 7415) Santa Clara Drive (built in 1933). The original house 1923-1933 no longer stands.
John M. Hengy as an electrical contractor was said to have been an instrumental part of the team, constructed the famous Pegasus logo sign of the Magnolia Oil Company (later Mobil Oil) atop the Magnolia building.
Coined by Dallas residents as “The Flying Red Horse”, the winged landmark has long been in the Dallas skyline.
The horse structure was actually two horses, 14 feet apart; each 35 feet wide by 50 feet tall. They weighed 15 tons and contained over a quarter mile of neon tubing said to be seen by pilots as far away as Waco.
Originally it was built on an oil derrick foundation with a 3-horsepower engine to rotate the horse once every 15 minutes.
After the sign stopped rotating in 1976 and finally when the lights failed in 1997, Dallas decided to refurbish it as part of their 2000 millennium celebration, but later concluded it was better to rebuild exactly like the original.
The Pegasus is to Dallas as the Empire State Building is to NYC and the Eiffel Tower to Paris.
The J.M. Hengy Electric Company building built in 1987 is still standing at 507 Exposition Avenue in Dallas, TX with the original signage.
Sources:
Article and J.M. Hengy Electric Co. photo by Judy Whalen
Magnolia Hotel Pegusas Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk Texas Historical Commision https://www.thc.texas.gov/
Restored Pegusas Photo Credit Brent Moore https://www.flickr.com/people/brent_nashville/